PCB moves forward with building plans

Published: Sunday, April 28, 2013 at 06:21 PM.

PANAMA CITY BEACH — The Panama City Beach Council moved one step closer toward breaking ground on a major facility improvement project Thursday.

The council unanimously approved three task orders with the city’s hired architectural firm that will kick start the design process for construction of a new police department and public works building.

Councilman John Reichard said the decision to move forward with the project was an easy one for the council, because of the current low cost of building in the area.

“There’s never going to be a better time to build anything as far as building costs,” Reichard said. “We have the funding without going into our city reserves.”

The three approved task orders totaled about $700,000 and included an update of the administrative campus master plan, and redesign of the police station and public works building.

The city drew up plans for the project back in 2004, but halted the project following the economic downturn.

“It never came to fruition because the real estate market went sideways and then there was Deepwater Horizon,” said Councilman Keith Curry, who noted the project was a positive step for the city.

PANAMA CITY BEACH — The Panama City Beach Council moved one step closer toward breaking ground on a major facility improvement project Thursday.

The council unanimously approved three task orders with the city’s hired architectural firm that will kick start the design process for construction of a new police department and public works building.

Councilman John Reichard said the decision to move forward with the project was an easy one for the council, because of the current low cost of building in the area.

“There’s never going to be a better time to build anything as far as building costs,” Reichard said. “We have the funding without going into our city reserves.”

The three approved task orders totaled about $700,000 and included an update of the administrative campus master plan, and redesign of the police station and public works building.

The city drew up plans for the project back in 2004, but halted the project following the economic downturn.

“It never came to fruition because the real estate market went sideways and then there was Deepwater Horizon,” said Councilman Keith Curry, who noted the project was a positive step for the city.

City Manager Mario Gisbert said the city is only in month two of the estimated 20-month project. He said the buildings will take between six and nine months to design and another 10 to 12 months to build.

Gisbert said the plan is to build both structures simultaneously under a unified master plan.

Funding for the estimated $8 million facility will come from police department and utility impact fees, and the city’s general fund.

Gisbert said the city should be able to complete the project and meet a budget goal set for this fiscal year, to maintain a minimum unrestricted reserve budget equal to 25 percent of budgeted expenditures, or about $4.1 million.

“We looked at our budget as a whole to see if we can afford to do this,” Gisbert said. “It would require us to be careful with our spending in the future, but we do have the monies in the budget to make this possible.”